Main menu

Post navigation

Life is Grand

I apologize for not writing in a very long time, but I’ve had too much going on.A few new developments in my life…some good, some not so good.

First, my medications from Germany got held up since early September.UPS and Canada Post are having difficulty delivering packages with alcohol contents because they think it is a bomb.Canada Customs no longer allows anything with alcohol get through without a lengthy delay, so I’m waiting for a friend to bring my tinctures back home with her.She’ll be back in early November. Thats 2 months without medicine.

My last “report” from my urine sample (in August) said I was toxic/acidic and to come back to Germany for an intensive treatment.Then I had an MRI which evidently shows cancer in my soft tissue (para-spinal) at C6 (bottom of my neck) and some new spots in my lower back (L2-S3).

My radiation guy wants me to participate in a clinical trial where he would radiate that neck area with two really high dose treatments.Trouble is there is a 10% chance of it fracturing my neck.

I was told not to worry, they would take good care of me and would put my neck in a brace.

I asked him if there was a chance that I would become a paraplegic and he kind of skirted the issue and said…”Yeah”.Well, guess what? As Maria O’Kane would say…“I don’t like that plan.”

Another alternative is to do 5 low dose radiation treatments but I don’t think its as effective.“But wait a minute,” I said to my dr.“I thought the last time I talked to you, I reached my maximum radiation allotment.”“Oh no, you can have more”, he responded.Really?

Well, I’m not entirely convinced I can have more radiation. As far as I understand any more radiation and I’ve upped my chances of getting leukemia, non-hodgkins and various other cancers.

Besides, I think my thyroid has been fried from the last set of radiation treatments on my neck as there were many nodules found throughout my last ultrasound.My family dr just told me that if I live to old age, I will need to be put on thyroid medication because of what they already did to me.Why didn’t anyone inform me of that before?Plus I think there is a part of my lung that got fried too. I need my voice to sing in choir at church.Not planning on doing anything on my neck at least until after Christmas Concert.

I know this may seem like a long shot, but I’m hoping that what they think is cancer in my neck is inflammation from going to a chiropractor in August.It really hurt from all the adjustments and I had a bump on the side of my neck.So I bought some special cream/oil and the bump went away.

Now I have to convince my onc. to redo the MRI at his hospital instead of the other one because I want a second opinion.My reasons are that they screwed up too many times before for me to believe them.Remember when I thought I was getting C5 radiated and then they told me it wasn’t what they thought it was?Remember the two times they said it was in my bone marrow and it wasn’t?I had to have a bone marrow biopsy to prove them wrong.And how about that blood test that indicated I was pregnant when I wasn’t.Oh and how about the time I was told the cancer spread to my lungs and I was going to have to get it drained in 3 weeks if I didn’t go on chemo.Didn’t happen. Seasonal allergies.

Sometimes I don’t know how I stay sane.I don’t know if I’m right or wrong this time.Time will tell.My tumour markers from my recent blood test are normal. What gives? Counting on some little piggy stem cells to fix me up.

So I booked my ticket to Germany.Bobo is going with me.And we are going to see the Christmas Markets again!Yippee!

In the meantime, I’m going to the Naturopathic College and getting weekly Vitamin C IV’s because that treatment shrank my tumours before.

So what else is happening besides having to worry that my neck may break?

I’m coaching a junior boys volleyball team at school.I also am starting to teach adults with cancer at Art For Cancer Foundation.I volunteer as a guest artist.This week I participated in a video for this charity organization.I’ll link it to my blog so you can see it when it comes out.Got my hair done in time for my interview.Finally found a real, organic hair dye from the States called “Hairprint” which I like. Thanks Stella! I finally used it. Don’t look like a granny anymore!

Next I’m venturing in some new interesting territory. I applied for a scholarship for an Advocacy Training Workshop for The Canadian Breast Cancer Network. I didn’t think I would be selected because I wrote my application at 3:00 in the morning the day before it was due, but guess what? They want me!

Not entirely sure what it involves yet.All I know is that I’m getting free food and a night at the Pantages Hotel in Toronto.They are going to teach me how to become an effective communicator.And I think I get to share my views on what its like to be a metastatic cancer patient to a room full of big wigs and perhaps the media too.Not sure they are going to like what I have to say, but oh well, too bad.This could be fun.It’s interesting what life throws at you.Life is grand.